Ives Pond a shivering success
On Saturday, January 26, 2013 the third Ives Pon...
A Steel City Quidditch Club keeper passes to avoid a tackle | Photo by Deanna Edmunds
Entering the tournament, that foursome was expected to perform well, with all four having previously qualified for the World Cup. The teams also represented four of the five highest-ranked teams entering the tournament, along with SUNY Geneseo (Geneseo, NY) ranked 35th. Although the squads did not get to face off to determine a champion, Tournament Director Jefferson Dedrick was excited about what could have been. “All of the teams were energetic and ready to fight tooth and nail for the trophy, and it is really unfortunate that we ran out of time,” Dedrick said, “Perhaps we'll see some action in this year's World Cup that could hint to who the greatest of those four teams are.” Q.C. Pittsburgh, one of two teams from the Mid-Atlantic region to make the drive to Buffalo earned the top seed entering bracket play, in the process justifying their lofty ranking. Geneseo earned the No. 2 seed, while Carleton took the third and and Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) earned the No. 4 seed. The quarter-finals saw a pair of upsets, as Rochester took down RIT in a derby match, while Ottawa overcame Geneseo 130*-20 in a 26-minute affair that Dedrick described as the most interesting match of the tournament. He summed up the performance: “Ottawa came back from a not-so-great day to overwhelm their opponents.” In addition to their performances during the day, Dedrick spoke of the history between the foes. He noted, “Geneseo's Captain Josh Stone later said they had a 3-win, 1-loss record against [Ottawa] for the last year." Had the semi-finals occurred, Pittsburgh would have faced Rochester, while Carleton would have squared off against their arch-rival, Ottawa. The Ottawa team's first practice was one hosted by Carleton, and the two teams have already faced each other three times this season. Carleton defeated their nemesis twice in October, while Ottawa earned a victory earlier this month. Despite the lack of a conclusion, Dedrick was pleased with the outcome: "The tournament did what I wanted [it] to. We had a lot fun, tons of people were exposed [to quidditch], and thus we were able to share our joy with not only our teammates and other quidditch players, but also the Buffalo community," he said.